Mundelein Cops Release Data On Traffic Stops

WBBM 780’s Bernie Tafoya

(CBS) — Racial breakdown numbers for traffic stops throughout Illinois will be released July 1, but one north suburban police department has decided to make its info public early.

Mundelein Police Chief Eric Guenther said it’s all in the name of transparency.

“Mundelein has never had an issue with any of their stops proportionate to what the populations are,” Guenther said.

More whites than non-whites are stopped by police in Mundelein. The latest Census numbers suggest minorities make up more than 27.5 percent of the population, while nearly 34% of those stopped in 2013 were minorities.

Guethner said he believes accident breakdown numbers are even more reflective of the population. Those are nearly identical to the Mundelein population breakdown, with more than 67% of those getting into accidents being white, about 25% being African-American, Hispanic, Asian, or Native American — the rest being unknown.

That said, the chief pointed out police cannot legally ask a person’s ethnic background, and provide their best guess.